Unbelievable
by dontcancelhousever
Summary: When Kaiba goes missing, a medium steps in with a look into the past. They find more than they bargained for: a forgotten love story, a curse and a coward.
1. Chapter 1

The Present:

Our mouths click wetly as they come together and then slide apart. It's so baldly sexual that I seize his hands and push them into the couch beside his head. He makes a sort little hum of pleasure and squeezes his legs around my hips with his bony knees. His bangs are matting to his forehead. I pull away and his eyes open. He looks naked and young. And that desperate violent sadness is at bay for a moment, his narrow eyes are soft.

I slot out mouths together again and he rises in a wave of solid heat against the entire length of my body. His hands are in my hair.

I could see why I would have loved him so long ago.

Our lips part again. We breath for a few seconds. And then I kiss that soft bunched skin between his eyebrows until it goes smooth. 5,000 years ago today I might have done the same thing. His grip hurts my hands. I kiss his eyebrow, muss it out of alignment with my mouth. His chest hitches but he doesn't make a sound. I lower my head to smell his hair. I kiss the firm curve of his ear as I go for his temple. I remember that he had leaned that soft spot toward me for a kiss after I got soaked rescuing his daggers from the mud. The sob scares me so bad I have to fight not to jerk away. He tries to shrug me off, to cover his eyes but I have his hands. He presses his face into my neck instead. He trembles, he shudders, he quakes and then with barely a sound, he starts to cry.

I take back one of my hands to hold his head close. He gulps for air and I pull away. He's not beautiful with his face wet and his eyes swollen. He can't keep his mouth closed because he can't breath through his nose and his body is jerking spasmodically as he fights release. He may as well be in mid orgasm to me. He's stunning.

I pull him into my arms and settle a hand on the back of his neck. I don't know what to say. I've said it all before. That its not his fault. That he has to let it go. He starts to talk and I think of cutting him off. Something tells me to let him finish.

" I would've given anything to wake up with you that morning", he whispers.

Son of a bitch. The entire frame of my skin hurts as if the tears are pushing on every pore to get out. My face is hot. He really is the expert on despairing what can't happen, so I murmur, " I love you too, Seto", and he slumps like his strings have been cut.

The curse is broken. I wonder who I will see when we finally pull apart, if we ever pull apart.


	2. Chapter 2

A week prior:

I couldn't help but eye the table in front of me. Yugi had outdone himself even without Gramps guarding the broiler. And it was all right there. Simmering and leeching heat with an amazing smell.

The chicken was glinting, toddling its little wing as if to say, " Come on, Joey, Mokuba won't mind if you don't wait for him. He's got a chef, he probably already ate."

I inch my fork a little closer.

"Seriously man, Yugi sees you do that one more time and he's gonna stab you." Tristan muses with a jaw cracking yawn.

"Why do we listen to him again?" I grouch. "He's like 4 feet tall and cries a lot."

"Yeah but his other self almost pushed Kaiba off a building. So seriously leave the chicken alone."

" But it's getting so cold. So. Cold." I drop my head into my arms in defeat. In all honesty, Yugi is the only one of us who can make Western food ( cooked candy bars excepted) and it wouldn't do to piss him off. I drag my head back up and leer into the kitchen.

"Yug. Seriously, call Mokuba. It's been an hour, already!?"

Yugi's voice answers from what sounded like neck deep in a basin. "It's only been a half hour, Joey. "

I grumble and shift in the chair to make it squeak.

Somewhere Yugi sighs and Tea murmurs something that seems to suggest a royal bitching. Hungry women are not to be tampered with.

"I'll call him now, ok. "

I grin and give Tristan a little kick.

"See, persistence. And you were just going to let this food go cold waiting for your boyfriend."

Tristan is spinning his spoon with an almost bizarre amount of patience only to have it clatter under his chair.

"He isn't my boyfriend. In fact the only one Duke has done kinky things with is you. And he's not coming. He called like twenty minutes ago when you were slow roasting Yugi with your eyes."

I open my mouth, prepared to sass back when the game shop's door bell tinkles sweetly.

I stretch my consuming hand to engage shoveling sequence when Tea and Yugi start murmuring worriedly from the other room.

I bare my teeth. " If Kaiba's stuck in another video game, he can stay there. This will be my first decent meal in two weeks."

" I think were the only people who eat better on roadtrips than with our families", Tristan chortles and spins his fork right off the table. Tea pops up the doorway and her pretty face is pinched unpleasantly.

"Guys, can you come in here for a minute? And Joey, try to be nice. Mokuba's really upset."

" I thought he was done dealing with Kaiba? I mean, why move out if you're going to keep getting into it with the guy?" I say, chewing my lip. A familiar heavy feeling is settling into my chest. Talking about Kaiba makes my stomach turn. The guy could kill a party faster than my dad used to kill six packs.

Tea glares at me and crooks a finger. Tristan hauls himself up and away with a huff.

I could lick that chicken right now and nobody would know about it. I could take the taste with me to survive a Kaiba brothers conversation. But then an old 'dog' insult flitted through my mind. I flipped off no one before I finally cleared the room. Fucking Kaiba ruins everything.

Mokuba is sitting in the living room with his coat still on. It's strange to see him older, taller. He'd been a little mop for so long that having him eye level with Tea just feels wrong. But the red rimmed puffy eyes are familiar.

Kaiba interaction symptom number 1.

" Hey how're you doing, kid?" I ask and slump over onto the couch limply, nearly knocking Yugi off. To his credit, Yugi just rolls with it. It's amazing what a few years of affectionate mauling will do for a guy's reflexes.

Mokuba shoots me a frown.

No humor.

Kaiba interaction symptom number 2.

"Mokuba, I think you'd better tell us what you two fought about."

I look up expecting red eyes but it's just serious Yugi, which isn't quite so rare anymore.

" It's nothing," Mokuba says dourly and crosses his arms.

" You can tell us, we promise not to butt in if you don't want us to." Tea being a mother again. Probably the closest Mokuba has to one, I think, with a sudden melancholy.

There's the pause of a lonely kid reconsidering. Then a telling hurm.

" It wasn't as much fighting as it was me yelling at him while he wouldn't look at me."

I feel my ears prick up.

"You yelled at him? And he let you?"

Mokuba look at me with genuine surprise.

"Yeah. It's been happening a lot lately."

"That's odd. Maybe he's mellowing out. Or he read some shitty parenting book," Tristan says trying to pick between sitting on the couch's arm or its back.

"No, it's not like he's frustrated or anything. He's just. It's like he doesn't care." Mokuba's voice goes funny and he scrubs his face briskly.

I'm swept with a real fondness for the kid. He isn't an ice princess like his brother yet. He's just a good kid with too much to do and no peers to share it with.

"What were you angry about?" Yugi asks softly, his eyes gone big and welcoming.

I can pretty much see the moment when Mokuba gets sucked into them.

"I saw him using contacts."

I snort and Tea thumps me with a fluffy pillow that had no business being in an all male household.

"Are his eyes suffering, Mokuba? Did it bother you that he'd hid it?"

"It did at first" Mokuba admits, biting his lip. "But the thing is. They're colored contacts."

A tense silence fills the room. I feel the heaviness resituate itself into his stomach.

Fucking Kaiba, I am never eating that chicken tonight.

"Mokuba. Do you think the Kaiba that you talked to…was an imposter?"

"No, I thought he was just getting involved in something shady again…so I picked the fight but he didn't rise to it at all. He just shrugged and lit a cigarette."

I sit up in surprise.

"He smokes?"

"He never used to. He started a few weeks ago. He didn't even smoke it though, he just sort of held it for awhile."

"Mokuba," Yugi says with a sudden sternness that meant that he isn't really Yugi anymore. "We should go back with you and talk with him. I think the sooner we unmask this stranger, the sooner we find out where your brother really is."

Mokuba looks floored.

"He's just mad at me because I don't like him hanging out with Pegasus."

'Goodbye chicken,' I think and haul myself into a sitting position.

"How long has this been going on?" Yami asks with that booming quality that demands a quick and to the point answer.

Mokuba suddenly looks like he had left the oven on at home.

"A few weeks. Should I have told you guys?"

"Uh, yeah, buddy. Mr. Soul Stealer himself starts smoking and playing seeing eye parties with your brother, probably a good thing to mention."

I could probably leave off the sarcasm but God, how many times has he been kidnapped already? He should know the spook signals by now.

Mokuba deflates a little and I suddenly saw Serenity, hunkered down under her own secrets.

I feel myself smile with steel. "Ok kid, let's go back to your place and grill this guy. If he's your brother, he'll punch me. If he's an intruder, I'll punch him. Everybody wins."

"I'll drive" Yugi chirps brightly and no wonder. If there's one thing he loves to lord over the pharaoh, its his bravery on four wheels. Trying to teach Yami to drive was like washing a cat; I got scratches on my arm and I've been the object of a cold shoulder for a week.

"Thanks, Joey," whispers Tea and hands me my coat.

It's just like her to enjoy this parenting thing. I sigh and zip up the threadbare fabric.

His chest feels doubly heavy at the thought of Pegasus, Kaiba and corporate espionage. I'd have to tell my mother his extra curriculars if she ever gives me flack about not going to college.

Mokuba settles into the backseat between Tristan and I, looking less uncomfortable than he should. Poor lonely kid.

Suddenly I feel a chill go up my back.

" Mokuba. What color were the contacts?"

" Blue," Mokuba murmured and clutches his knees.

" Yugi." I hiss." Step on it. I think I know who it is."

'Even if it's impossible' I think.


	3. Chapter 3

I knew something was wrong immediately. Now lemme be honest and say that halfway through the ride, my seemingly perfect guess no longer seemed reasonable. By the time we got there, I wasnt sure about anything except that I felt sick and that I would never be a crime fighter with my brain. But I still knew something was wrong. The instincts arent something I've ever doubted. This is going to sound creepy but I know what Kaiba's body language is. Before he invaded the Game Shop, I couldn't have told you more about him then that the teacher's were all scared of him. I knew he could type so quickly the sound was less like my clacking and more like a hum but that was just a vague annoyance. I thought he was just some strange elitist prick (which is something I now know).

But once you fight a person, you watch them. Any fighter can tell you that. It's not fun watching. It's not their ass you watch when they walk away. It's their back and the way they hold their arms. You learn how they move so that when you fight them again, you won't get sidelined by their deceptive strength. I know how he fights now. I know how he uses the opponents weight against them (which he must have learned young). It doesn't matter who you are, Kaiba is not a person to turn his back on anyone. Not including the emotional sense of course. He wouldn't spit on me to put out a fire but he'd stare at me the whole time. He doesn't blink when he's pissed, he rarely moves forward or back.

He's like a cobra. He hoods and stands his ground. He matches you with those cold clear eyes and holds you back with the sheer force of his will. He only strikes out if you are stupid enough to touch him. Or you know, grab him. Sure he sneers and rages and on a rare occasion flails like a peacock, but not when he's being attacked. He maintains dignity above everything. Submitting to Pegasus' bargain, losing Mokuba, the final moments of Battle City. He flails and fights like anyone would, with all the crazy of someone with no one at his back. Yet in the end, he's always quiet and reserved. But even cornered he doesn't give.

That's why the joggling knee was so odd. We'd barged into his office, his secretary smiling prettily at Mokuba ( and Yugi to Tea's annoyance). We'd expected a brawl but it was just Kaiba cemented to his laptop and four hundred miles away per usual. But he hadn't asked us what we wanted. He just slid his cold eyes over to us and then away sharply. I could see guilt in the furrows of his forehead. Yugi had asked if he could have a catalogue on a Kaiba Corp. partnership. Which was really fucking smart considering that my plan was just to see how he'd take a punch in the face. That's Yugi for you. Hitting a business man where it hurts. Kaiba had been bugging Yugi about an advertising partnership for a year.

Kaiba had looked at him impassively and then opened his drawer. And looked for it. And looked for it. Frustration started to kick up on his face. That's when his knee joggled. He was nervous. Kaiba was never nervous around us. The man who had stood on the edge of a building with terrifying calm. Who piloted planes and fought with a pretty shocking stamina for how skinny he is. That man doesn't get nervous. He gets annoyed. In fact for being so quiet at the edge of death, he's pretty loud and combustible when it comes to us. Mokuba once said it was a sign of trust. I think it's that he knows we aren't a threat. But then again, that might be what amounts to trust in Kaiba's shitty world view. After not finding the paper, Kaiba stands and faces the window.

" I have a great deal of work. I'll fax you the information."

First off if youre so busy, why get up? Kaiba would never let himself get cornered. The quiet phase shouldn't come yet. This was all wrong. Sure it sounds like him but something's off. He's a little nasal. A cold? An enemy who didn't practice those dour tones enough? I don't want to accidently punch a guy with a head cold. His massive temper might kick out and he'd throw me out a window.

" But you can't fax it." Yugi says softly, playing possum. " It needs your original signature."

That's when I know. Back turned. Leg joggled. Then he turns his head very slightly to look at us and then looks away. But in that moment I knew it wasn't him. Because Ive been on the receiving end of every kind of Kaiba stare.

The ' shut up idiot, I'm not explaining it again'.

The ' who taught you math'.

The ' are you really taking up my time'.

The ' did you ever doubt my greatness'.

And the crowd favorite: the cultured flat affect; when he doesn't want you to see anything at all.

This look wasn't anything like that. It wasn't even like the strange empty cruelty of Kaiba before that first duel. It was fear of discovery. I'm sure Kaiba gets scared, especially in our bizarre world of magic and psychosis. But never so openly in a place where he rules and never in front of me. I guess it's the whole idea of me being less. Is it masochistic to keep saving a guy who thinks you're less than dirt?

I brace myself. I'll jump at him, throw him on the floor. I catch Tristan's eye and I can see as usual he'll be with me. This guy's tall but he's willowy, we can take him together. Especially if we're completely willing to hurt him. Then Yugi, as usual, ruins my occasional need for ramshackle violence.

" Who are you?" he asks in his softest voice. It's strange. I expected the pharaoh if anyone but this is better. It's hard not to answer a voice like that.

The imposter's back straightens.

" Well, fuck," he says and turns to face us.

Dead on, it's obvious he isn't Kaiba. Not only can you see the rings of his contacts but he's smirking ruefully. Kaiba doesn't do ruefully. He'd run over Gramps and just shrug. He doesn't do bashful or remorseful. Or even sorry. Even to Mokuba, it's all circumstance.

"Hello again. I was hoping I'd be able to fill out this role better. What with all the preparation."

Mokuba is radiating terror.

" Where's my brother?"

The imposter smiles. Its genuine and shocking on that angular, proud face. That face doesn't smile easily. This one breaks cleanly without the friction and wear of the original.

" Mokuba. You really don't remember me?"

There is a sort of shocked silence in which the stranger clearly expects an answer. Then he laughs. Its higher than expected and suddenly I'm years back. Judges, dragons, train tracks and turning to stone. My stomach drops.

"Noah?!" Mokuba sounds as shocked as I know I look. Yugi's mouth is wide open. Apparently he didn't get a spoiler this time. I guess the pharaoh's powers can't overcome the modern illusions of makeup.

It's suddenly intensely obvious. I feel like a fucking idiot for not seeing it. Eyes, hair and height and apparently I'm completely fooled. I don't even look at Mokuba. He'll be kicking himself later.

" I'm sorry about scaring you, kid. Don't worry, this isn't some kind of corporate takeover. Your brother asked me to fill in for him while he's away."

" Bullshit," snaps Tristan and I try to agree but it just comes out like a growl. This kid nearly killed us with a missile, after trying to kill us with fire and guns. He was going to leave us stranded in a virtual world alone. Sure, he'd pulled that freak Gozaburo away from us so we could escape…damn…now I feel bad. I feel myself relax. It's like that collective memory sweeps the room. It feels less like a fight and more like a duel now. I feel myself emotionally step back. Puzzles are Yugi's forte.

" Noah. How are you here? Please explain," asks Yami.

Oh. Well never mind. Apparently this is just a little too messed up for Yugi. I'm going to have to start being harder on the kid about showing up to life. If he and Yami ever split, Yugi can't just go catatonic whenever somebody pulls a twist.

Noah smiles shakily with Kaiba's face.

" I'm actually not sure how it happened. Honestly. I was alone, losing my mind in the dark. Then I waking up in a dim lab and Kaiba was leaning over me wearing sunglasses and holding a golden staff. "

Forget the whole relaxing idea.

" Yug, you have the rod, don't you?"

Yami looks at me and if its one thing that ancient spirit is bad at, its hiding a screw up.

" I just tried to sense it. It's gone."

"Who did he leave with? Is he alone?" Mokuba asked frantically.

Noah bit his lip. Again a bizarre thing to see on Kaiba's face.

" Pegasus."

Mokuba's face hardened.

"Why would he do that?"

Noah swallowed loudly and then, " I dont think he had much choice."

"Well, fuck."

I'd love to say I said that. Shockingly enough...it was Tea. I had the sudden feeling I shouldve packed.


	4. Chapter 4

I'd like to say it was my idea to go through the security footage. But I was too busy scouring through Noah's phone. In the short time he'd been a human being, he'd been busy. There were at least a hundred calls to 'Max' but all voicemails and texts were deleted. Noah, himself, hadnt been helpful. He'd woke up in the lab two weeks ago, achy and very much real. Kaiba, wearing thick sunglasses had greeted him flatly, with a pamplet on what his new duties were as temporary CEO.

If Noah had wanted something more from his creator, he was disappointed. Gozaburo was a more interested parent. They'd spent the week working on the deception, with Noah mimicking body language and inflection with no answers as to the why of it all. The rod had never reappeared. And the warehouse had been emptied that week. Then he'd abruptly left with Pegasus, leaving Noah with strict instructions not to break character, especially for Mokuba.

" Why did you agree to all that!?" snapped Mokuba and Noah winced.

" I've been in nowhere for so long. I guess it broke my spirit. I don't want to fight anymore. And I don't know how Kaiba brought me back. I'm guessing some sort of magic, the kind you guys are involved in. But I don't want him taking it back."

Mokuba looked abashed and the line of questioning ended. They could see it now, the resigned young man who'd reversed his homicidal decision had completely eclipsed the psychotic narcissist. It looked like Noah just needed a nap, especially since he'd uncoufed his hair and slumped in his chair. Since Isono had moved on, there wasn't much of a manager chairing security, so we peeled through the security tapes easily. But I guess it's all files now. I was trying to figure out whether or not I should text Pegasus a middle finger or my ass.

" I found it," Yugi whispered and played it. The sound was surprisingly good but I guess Kaiba wouldn't skimp on his own technology. The hall camera caught him going out of his room. God, was he thinner somehow. And he was wearing sunglasses in a pitch black house. He was shrugging on that blue coat he used to wear. Then he headed into Mokuba's room. One camera was on Mokuba's window canted low for privacy but Kaiba's shadow loomed regardless. Then he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Mokuba's temple. Standing next to me, Mokuba put his hand on his head, as if he could feel it. Kaiba went out into the hall. Pegasus was waiting at the top of the stairs. Kaiba's skin under his bangs and glasses was dead white. He let Pegasus support him under an arm. They went down the stairs slowly and out the door. Yugi turned off the feed and glanced back at me. My stomach hurt with dread. I knew we were thinking the same thing. If Kaiba ever got sick, he would never let himself get taken care of. He would crawl off to die. He would be the one to die like a dog.

" Mokuba-" I start but he's digging the phone out of my hand.

" He's not going to pick up", Noah said around a mouthful of rice cake. He seemed to have completely abandoned the Kaiba persona now, stuffing his face and unbuttoning the collar of his shirt.

" I don't ca- Pegasus!" Mokuba looked shocked and we could all hear the little voice over the phone. Noah looked stumped. We all got closer, Tristan leaned heavily over me. Tea was chewing her lip gloss off.

" Where's my brother!" Mokuba demanded. There was mumbling over the phone. It didn't sound like Pegasus at all, it had a low and serious tone. Mokuba's pinched face dropped into slack shock.

" What?"

"Speakerphone," I undertone and Yugi glares at me.

" Egypt? Why would you take him to Egypt. Hey I-" Mokuba pulled the phone away. " He hung up. He says theyre in Egypt and he isnt allowed to talk to me. He says it's fine."

" I.e. Youre worried,right?" Tea said and he nodded, redialing. A few minutes of listening and he put the phone back in my hand.

" It's going straight to voicemail now."

" He might be going for specialized treatment. Or a difficult deal. He did say I was temporary CEO. If it were a permanent position, I think he would have set up certain safegaurds to avoid another 'board' situation, don't you think?" Noah smiled fondly at Mokuba. He looked a lot like Kaiba there. It seemed to comfort Mokuba. He had rubbed some of the makeup off on his suit. He had a big stripe of tan on his head.

" Well, I am glad youre back, Noah. But I wish you would have told me."

" I do too. I never realized how little he eats. I never would have been able to get away with taking over his life, even the way I was before." Noah said, smiling. " I like living too much."

My stomach dropped out. It felt like a phrase I should remember.

" I think we should call Isis." I hear myself say.

Yugi looks perturbed. " Because they might know where in Egypt they are?"

" Because this has a psychic feeling to me, man. I don't like it. And I think we need some insight from someone, alittle more informed than Yami." A glare darkened that sweet face. " Sorry, buddy, but youre as out of the loop as we are."

Yugi's face lightened up and rounded out. " Makes sense. Plus if it's anything shady, they might be able to contact Shadi."

I'd chide him for almost rhyming later. We had some calls to make…but first…

" Yugi, can we make these calls over dinner. Please? We are going to be no good to anyone if we're starving."

Tea glared at me but Yugi accidently cut her off cheerily, " Sure. Mokuba and Noah you hungry?"

Mokuba looked like he wanted to reject but then sagged. " Better than any of my ideas have been."

I smiled and joked about food all the way back to the car. But I tasted acrid water in the back of my throat. And I didn't know why but it had something to do with Kaiba and all this magic bullshit.


	5. Chapter 5

This segment is itty bitty. It'll pick up soon, promise.

* * *

Isis called us from the plane. It was nice to be friends with a psychic. Of course she said she had "grave news not appropriate for the telephone" which I assume is psychic for, " this shit is crazy, I don't want to say it in public."

So we ate chicken and ignored the Seto-sized elephant in the room. We're pros at dealing with kidnappings. At this point we better be. If I had known what she was seeing in her tightly closed eyes, I might have been less blaise about ignoring her warning and shoving reheated chicken in my mouth.

* * *

The Past

Jou was starving. There was really no other word for it. He'd traveled into the city on the back of carts and on his poor sorry feet. Now he was lining up with other recrutis and he realized: he was in no shape to start training. His feet were cracked and filthy in his ruined shoes. He felt weak with hunger and his face was baked red as Nile clay. The recruit beside him was looking at him with one part pity, two parts confusion. He turned away to keep talking to his neighbor.

" So is Priest Set going to be our commander or just train us?"

" Both, I think." The other guy said looking kind of mousy to be looking for army work, in Jou's opinion. Not that he could really talk but at least he had good arms.

" Priest Shada will be assigning us I think but Lord Kasim will be the person we talk to. I doubt the great Prince will want to listen to us pions."

"wait," Jou said, leaning in. " A holy man is gonna teach us to fight. What with? A staff and a scale? Or will he just teach us to pray really really hard?"

Jou expected at least a pity laugh. Not stunned silence. Both men looked stricken, even the big guy who looked more mammoth than human. Jou's neck prickled. He turned on his heel. Looking down at him were two narrowed blue eyes. The young man was tall, staring down at Jou icily. The flat dangerous stare shifted into an equally frightening scowl.

" Form ranks!" the man roared and everyone fell back. Jou tried to move but the priest launched out a hand and knocked him to his knees.

" No, you. You stay there until you learn to pray. Really. Really. Hard."

Then he started to stalk the line, looking at each man appraisingly, with every pass he got more dust on Jou's clothes. He didn't know which emotion to feel more loudly, psychotic rage, sheer terror or bizarre animal attraction. He settled on terror when the guy's hand erupted in blue flame.

Everyone moved away in shock, drawing their hands up defensively.

" At the end of this session, whomever takes this dagger from my hand will lead their battalion." He snapped his palm shut and the flames were gone.

Priest must be city talk for sorcerer, Jou mused.

" I will be preparing you for war. Not for a pageant, not for adventure but for battle. I will give you the ability to survive if you heed my direction. Fall behind or dismiss my lessons and not only will your garrison suffer but you will fall under my heel, are we understood!?"

"Yes, sir." Everyone chanted in a monotone.

Set reached down and dragged Jou to his feet. He leaned into his face. Jou's breath stuttered. He had never seen eyes that color before. Electric thunderstorm blue.

' Mind your bark, dog.' Set intoned and shoved him back. Then he strode away in a sweep of fabrics and was gone.

Isis opened her eyes and rubbed the sweat from her temple. Sometimes she hated bearing the stories of others.


End file.
